STANAG 1162 vertical replenishment operating area marking and lighting

What it is

STANAG 1162 is a NATO Standardization Agreement, currently Edition 6, promulgated 11 March 2016. Like most STANAGs, it is not itself a technical specification. It is the agreement by which NATO nations commit to implement MPP-02.3.3, Edition A, the publication that sets the minimum requirements for marking, clearing and lighting a ship's Vertical Replenishment Operating Area (VOA), the deck area used to transfer cargo from a helicopter during vertical replenishment (VERTREP). The technical detail a reader usually wants sits inside MPP-02.3.3, not inside this short cover document. Read on its own, STANAG 1162 requires almost nothing of a shipyard or operator directly: its obligations run to nations, and it reaches a contractor only indirectly, once a nation has implemented it and a contract or building specification brings MPP-02.3.3 into play.

Who it binds, and how

STANAG 1162 is explicit that it binds nations, not suppliers. Its letter of promulgation describes the enclosed agreement as one "which has been ratified by member nations, as reflected in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD), is promulgated herewith." Ratification and implementation are separate steps, and once ratified, the agreement "is effective upon receipt and ready to be used by the implementing nations and NATO bodies." So "is STANAG 1162 mandatory" has no single answer: it depends on whether a given nation has ratified and implemented it, and, for a shipyard or supplier, on whether a specific contract or building specification then invokes MPP-02.3.3.

The interoperability requirement

The stated aim is "to respond to the following interoperability requirement," and the requirement itself is direct: "in the naval operational domain, to establish the minimum requirements for the marking and lighting of shipboard Vertical Replenishment Operating Areas (VOAs)." Under "Agreement," participating nations "agree to implement the following standard," named under "Standard" as "MPP-02.3.3, Edition A." STANAG 1162 goes no further than naming that publication; it sets out no dimension, colour or light characteristic of its own.

How it connects to related replenishment standards

The STANAG lists four "other related documents" for context: STANAG 1194, covering helicopter operations from ships other than aircraft carriers (HOSTAC, MPP-02); STANAG 1236, on glide slope indicators for helicopter operations from ships (MPP-02.3.1); STANAG 1065, on replenishment at sea (ATP/MTP-16); and STANAG 3117, on aircraft marshalling signals (AFSP-2). None of these is stated as a prerequisite that must be in place first; they describe the wider naval replenishment and flight-deck picture that vertical replenishment operating area marking sits inside.

From ratification to reporting

Nations examine their own ratification of the STANAG and, where they have not already done so, advise the NATO Standardization Office (NSO) of their implementation intentions; they later provide their actual implementation details to the NSO as well. Once promulgated, "STANAG 1162, Edition 6, is effective upon receipt and should be implemented by nations and NATO bodies as soon as possible after receipt." Nations are invited to report their effective implementation using the form at Annex H to AAP-03(J); partner nations, invited to adopt the STANAG without the ratification obligation that binds a member nation, report their adoption using the form at Annex G to AAP-03(J).

Review and currency

This edition, Edition 6, supersedes the previous Edition 5 of STANAG 1162. "This STANAG is to be reviewed at least once every three years. The result of the review is recorded within the NSDD," and any nation or NATO body may propose a change at any time through a standardization proposal to the tasking authority, processed at the next review. It is supervised under NATO's Military Committee Maritime Standardization Board (MCMSB).

What it does not cover

STANAG 1162 names no certification or accreditation scheme, no assessment body and no audit of a shipyard, operator or product. The only accountability it describes is procedural: nations reporting their own ratification and implementation decisions to the NSO, and the periodic review of the agreement's own currency described above.

Standards it references

• STANAG 1194Background
• STANAG 1236Background
• STANAG 1065Background
• STANAG 3117Background
• AFSP-02Background